20th century
The twentieth century Anno Domini (common) era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. A common misconception is that it started in 1900 and ended in 1999, even though popular culture often reflected the correct numbering convention, such as the movie, 2001. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1992 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
The twentieth century witnessed radical changes in almost every area of human activity. Accelerating scientific understanding, better communications, and faster transportation transformed the world in those hundred years more than any time in the past. It was a century that started with steam-powered ships and ended with the space shuttle. Horses and other pack animals, Western society's basic form of personal transportation for thousands of years, were replaced by automobiles within the span of a few decades. The twentieth century also gave rise to humanity's first footsteps on the moon, in the year 1969.
The twentieth century saw a remarkable shift in the way that vast numbers of people lived, as a result of technological, medical, social, ideological, and political innovation. Arguably more technological advances occurred in any 10 year period following World War I than the sum total of new technological development in any previous century. Terms like ideology, world war, genocide, and nuclear war entered common usage and became an influence on the lives of everyday people. War reached an unprecedented scale and sophistication; in the Second World War (1939-1945) alone, approximately 57 million people died, mainly due to massive advances in weaponry. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which began in the 19th century, continued at an ever-increasing pace.
Virtually every aspect of life changed in fundamental ways during the twentieth century and for the first time, any individual could influence the course of history no matter their background.
Scientific discoveries such as the theory of relativity and quantum physics radically changed the worldview of scientists, causing them to realize that the universe was much more complex than previously believed, and dashing the hopes at the end of the previous century that the last few details of scientific knowledge were about to be filled in.
For a more coherent overview of the historical events of the century, see the 20th century in review.
The twentieth century has sometimes been called, both within and outside the United States, the American Century, though this is a controversial term.
More information about specific twentieth century developments are detailed in the following articles:
Wars and politics
- After decades of fight of the Women's suffrage movement, the right to vote for women is introduced in all western countries.
- Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness were among the causes of World War I, the first of two wars to involve all the major world powers including Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the Commonwealth of Nations. World War I led to the creation of many new countries, especially in Eastern Europe. Ironically, it was said by many to be the 'War to end all Wars'.
- The economic and political aftermath of World War I and the Great Depression led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II. This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. Among soldiers, civilians also suffered greatly in World War II — from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the German genocide of the Jews and others, known as the Holocaust. In 1945 the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place.
- A violent war broke out in Spain in 1936 when General Francisco Franco rebelled against the Second Spanish Republic. Almost 1,000,000 people died. Many consider this war as a testing battleground for WWII as the fascist armies bombed some Spanish territories.
- During World War I, in Russia the Bolshevik putsch took over the Russian Revolution of 1917, precipitating the rise of communism. After the Soviet Union's involvement in World War II, Communism became a major force in global politics, spreading all over the world: notably, to Eastern Europe, China, Indochina and Cuba. This led to the Cold War and proxy wars with the West, including wars in Korea (1950–1953) and Vietnam (1957–1975).
- The civil rights movement in the USA and the movement against Apartheid in South Africa successfully challenged racial segregation.
- The "fall of Communism" in the late 1980s freed Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet supremacy. It also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia into successor states, many rife with ethnic nationalism, and left the United States as the world's superpower.
- Through the League of Nations and, after World War II, the United Nations, international cooperation increased. Other efforts included the formation of the European Union, leading to a common currency in much of Western Europe, the euro around the turn of the millennium.
- The end of colonialism led to the independence of many African and Asian countries. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.
- The creation of Israel, a Jewish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast oil fields in many of the Arab countries.
Culture and entertainment
- As the century begins, Paris is the artistic capital of the world, where both French and foreign writers, composers and visual artists gather. By the end of the century, the focal point of culture had moved to the United States, especially New York City and Los Angeles.
- Movies, music and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States, American culture spread rapidly over the world.
- After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, and with the advent of new birth control techniques women became more independent throughout the century.
- In classical music, composition branched out into many completely new domains, including dodecaphony, aleatoric and chance music, and minimalism. Electronic musical instruments were developed as well, vastly broadening the scope of sounds available to composers and performers.
- Rock and Roll and Jazz styles of music are developed in the United States, and quickly become the dominant forms of popular music in America, and later, the world.
- The plastic arts developed new styles such as expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.
- Modern architecture evolved within Europe with a radical departure from the excess decoration of the Victorian era — streamlined forms inspired by machines became more commonplace. Developments in building material technologies furthered this shift. European architects moved to the United States prior to World War II, where modern archiectural theory continued to blossom.
- The automobile provided vastly increased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the early to mid-century, spreading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a leading symbol of modern society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.
- Sports became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on television, became a popular activity.
Disease and medicine
Medicine
- Antibiotics drastically reduced mortality from bacterial diseases and their prevalence.
- A vaccine was developed for polio, ending a worldwide epidemic.
- X-rays became powerful diagnostic tool for wide spectrum of diseases, from bone fractures to cancer. In the 1960s, computerized tomography was invented.
- Another important diagnostics tool is sonography.
- Development of vitamins virtually eliminated scurvy and other vitamin-deficiency diseases.
- New psychiatric drugs were developed. This includes antipsychotics which are efficient in treating hallucinations and delusions, and antidepressants for treating depression. However, some of these drugs have serious side effects, and they usually cannot heal a psychiatric disease, only treat it.
- Role of tobacco smoking in developing cancer and other diseases had been proved in 1950s (see British Doctors Study).
- New methods for cancer treatment, namely chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy, were developed. As a result, in many cases cancer can be completely healed.
- New methods for heart surgery were developed.
- Cocaine and heroin were found to be dangerous addictive drugs, and their wide usage had been outlawed.
- Contraceptive drugs were developed, which reduced population growth rates.
Diseases
- An influenza pandemic, the Spanish Flu, killed 25 million between 1918 and 1919
- 1977 marked the eradication of smallpox following a global vacination campaign.
- AIDS killed millions of people. AIDS treatments remain inaccessible to people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries, but even with the best available treatment, most patients eventually die from AIDS.
- Because of increased life span, the prevalence of old age diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease increased.
Natural resources and the environment
- The widespread use of petroleum in industry — both as a chemical precursor to plastics and as a fuel for the automobile and airplane — led to the vital geopolitical importance of petroleum resources. The Middle East, home to many of the world's oil deposits, became a center of geopolitical and military tension throughout the latter half of the century. (For example, oil was a factor in Japan's decision to go to war against the United States in 1941, and the oil cartel, OPEC, used an oil embargo of sorts in the wake of the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s).
- A vast increase in fossil fuel consumption, according to some, leads to depletion of natural resources, global warming and both local and global climate change. The problem is increased by, believed by many, world-wide deforestation, also causing a loss of biodiversity. The problem of a depletion of natural resources is decreased by advances in drilling technology which led to a net increase in the amount of fossil fuel that is readily obtainable at the end of the century, as compared with the amount considered obtainable at the beginning of the century.
Decades and years
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